Salt

[strokeoluck]

I always tuck my M away for the Winter, deathly afraid of salt up here in MN. But I'm selling the car and have a guy interested. Hew wants to see it next weekend. We've already had salt on the roads here, though there is no accumulated snow. Would you let someone take it out for a test drive if there is no snow on the ground, but you know there will be residual salt around? I guess I'm nervous that if he decides not to buy it, the car will sit through the Winter slowly corroding away!

[Geauxkart]

Yes, absolutely.
You are trying to sell it, what makes you think it's going to take all winter to do that?

Put it up on jackstands and rinse underneath if he passes.

[Beedub]

or just tell him the truth, let him come see it and tell him you'd prefur him not to drive it around.... its always sods law this dude is coming to test pilot your car.... personally if your that concerned wait till spring/summer to sell the vehicle when your not concerned.....

[dubsesd]

I would let him drive around my street maybe. Defiantly not on city salted roads

[David70]

If you live in MN and are trying to sell the car in the winter you will have to be prepared for at least the serious buyer to drive it. If you don't want to deal with it then you should wait until Spring. My guess is it would also be easier to sell the car in Spring since many of the prospective new owners will have to drive it home and put it away for the Winter.

Other choice is to tell them up front that there will be no test drives because of salt. I wouldn't wait until the buyer got there to tell them this information.

[jdoublehcubed]

Salt is not molten lava, its not going to touch your car and destroy it instantly. Just rinse off the car afterwards.

No one is going to buy your car if you don't let them drive it.

[gghg]

If it's rained the past few days most of the salt would have been washed off the road, if still in doubt wash it off as mentioned in other posts. If the buyer is serious he is going to want to drive it and more than just around the block.

[Huz-Z]

Originally Posted by jdoublehcubed

Salt is not molten lava, its not going to touch your car and destroy it instantly. Just rinse off the car afterwards.

No one is going to buy your car if you don't let them drive it.

Don't trust anything a mechanical engineer tells you. Being one, I should know LOL!

But I do agree with the above. Just give the car a thorough rinse and maybe a wash, and all should be good. Repeated intense exposure to road salt is most certainly to be avoided, but that's not the case here.

Sorry to see that you are selling; you'll be missed.

[David70]

I would tell the buyer your issue with this, as a prospective buyer I would like to hear that you don't want to take the car out in the salt for any reason even to sell it.

[Gladius]

"It's not molten lava."

You're not driving it every day in slush and salt. If the roads are dry, you're not going to get so much on the car that it's going to cause any damage, and based on the fact that you even posted this question, you're clearly not the type to leave the salt on the car anyway. Just wash it after the test drive. If the guy is seriously interested in the car, he's not going to buy it without driving it. You do want to sell it, don't you?

If the answer to this question is no, tell him he can't drive it until the spring.

[Beedub]

Originally Posted by David70

I would tell the buyer your issue with this, as a prospective buyer I would like to hear that you don't want to take the car out in the salt for any reason even to sell it.

yup yup!

[dean911]

I own a 2001 Z3 3.0 Dinan car. Bought it in November of 2000. While I do store it over the winter, it has seen both snow and salt numerous times. Freak snow storms before I put it away or took it out too soon and got a storm in April. Crazy Cleveland weather. Point is you can drive these things year round and they will not show rust for 6 to 8 years. One trip in the salt is not in any way going to harm anything. I can still remove the exhaust system reusing the same bolts. Same with the suspension. Let him drive the car and park it till spring. The car won't care.

[RADRACR]

Aren't cars treated nowadays to resist salt? Seems like an old problem that died in the 90s. I haven't seen '99+ cars rusted out like they used to. Most undercarriage parts are powdercoated or stainless.

[strokeoluck]

Thanks everyone. There is someone interested who is coming to look at it in the next week or so. I told him I was reluctant to take it out on salted roads and he was totally cool with that. Maybe others won't be so understanding. I agree that I may just sit tight until Spring. As for the idea of 'just wash it afterwards'...did I mention I live in MN? This morning when I was outside putting xmas lights up, it was a whopping 7-degrees with 15 mph winds. CAN you wash a car in these conditions? Yes, but it would literally be painful.

[Finnegan]

The fact you're telling prospective buyers salt worries you seems like a selling point to me. Your just the right type of guy to buy from--someone who takes damn good care of the car--and worries about things like this. That points to a car that's certainly well cared for.

[Huz-Z]

Originally Posted by strokeoluck

Thanks everyone. There is someone interested who is coming to look at it in the next week or so. I told him I was reluctant to take it out on salted roads and he was totally cool with that. Maybe others won't be so understanding. I agree that I may just sit tight until Spring. As for the idea of 'just wash it afterwards'...did I mention I live in MN? This morning when I was outside putting xmas lights up, it was a whopping 7-degrees with 15 mph winds. CAN you wash a car in these conditions? Yes, but it would literally be painful.

Having very recently been there and done that and bought the t-shirt, it's amazingly comfortable if you fill your mitt rinse bucket with hot water and dip your wash mitt hand as you start each section of the car.

Cheers!!

[sbtwister]

Good luck with that wash... (he says from Santa Barbara).

[strokeoluck]

Originally Posted by Huz-Z

Having very recently been there and done that and bought the t-shirt, it's amazingly comfortable if you fill your mitt rinse bucket with hot water and dip your wash mitt hand as you start each section of the car.

Cheers!!

Yeah, I've washed cars when it's chilly outside. It's not fun, but it can be done. I guess I'm less concerned about salt on the body, and more worried about the salt getting up underneath the car and on the frame. As someone else pointed out, it probably wouldn't rust out for "6 to 8 years", but nonetheless, I'd be accelerating the demise of a great car...whether I own it or someone else does. I don't want to do that; life is short and beautiful things deserve to last as long as possible. As others pointed out, I will probably either need to drive it on local non-salted streets, hope someone buys it by looking at it in my garage, or just sit tight until Spring. I'm in no rush, so I'm fine either way.